Bihar’s State Vigilance Unit conducts raids on West Champaran DEO’s properties

Patna, Jan 23 Multiple teams from the State Vigilance Unit (SVU) conducted extensive raids at half a dozen locations associated with Rajnikant Praveen, the District Education Officer (DEO) of West Champaran, in Bihar on Thursday.

The vigilance team, which arrived from Patna, began its operations early on Thursday morning.

A significant raid was conducted at Praveen’s residence in the Vasant Vihar locality, under the jurisdiction of the Mufassil police station.

Sources indicate that a large amount of cash has been recovered from Praveen’s house.

A note-counting machine was brought in to tally the recovered currency notes.

Praveen is undergoing questioning by the vigilance team at his residence for the last several hours.

A heavy police force has been deployed at the site to ensure security during the raid.

As of now, the officials of the SVU have not made any official statements regarding the case or the details of the recovered assets.

Praveen has been serving as the DEO in West Champaran for the last three years.

The raids are part of an ongoing investigation into alleged irregularities, though no further details have been disclosed by the authorities.

The operation is ongoing, and further updates are expected as the SVU concludes its enquiry.

According to information provided by the SVU, Praveen is accused of illegally acquiring massive movable and immovable assets during his service period, spanning from 2005 to the present day.

Praveen and his family reportedly own land and flats worth several crores in cities such as Patna, Darbhanga, Madhubani, and Muzaffarpur.

Praveen’s wife, Sushma Kumari, was formerly a contract teacher. She now serves as the Director and owner of Open Mind Birla School in Darbhanga, which is allegedly being run with funds illegally earned by Praveen.

Many of these assets are registered either in Praveen's name or in the names of his family members, raising suspicion about their origins.

Praveen is an officer of the 45th batch of the Bihar Education Service, having joined the service in 2005.

During his career, he served as an Education Officer in Darbhanga, Samastipur, and other districts of Bihar.

His total service spans approximately 19-20 years.

Source: IANS